Ultimate Fantasy World Juniors Mock Draft Shows Depth of Talent, Potential Strategies
Updated: Dec 4, 2021
A dynasty league for the World Juniors is a novel concept. It’s never been done before and certainly never on the level envisioned by Ultimate Franchise Fantasy Sports.
With the UFWJ Franchise Auction upon us this weekend — starting Saturday at noon ET and ending Sunday at 8 p.m. ET — this revolutionary league is on the verge of becoming a reality for the 2022 tournament that begins on Boxing Day (Dec. 26, 2021), mirroring the IIHF World Junior Championship with 10 franchises drafting 25-man rosters, plus 5-man protected lists for future years to emphasize the dynasty element.
Those draft strategies are going to be fascinating — as will the creativity of franchises branding as unique countries with flags and uniforms — for the Ultimate Fantasy World Juniors. The Inaugural Draft is slated for Dec. 19, following selection camps and as the WJC countries are finalizing their rosters through pre-tournament exhibitions, but it is never too early to start mocking the potential results.
Since this is new and innovative, it’s tough to predict how UFWJ franchises will approach the draft. Some will be looking to win now by selecting the best players available — with gold, silver and bronze medals up for grabs, along with player awards — while others will have an eye for the future by prioritizing their protected list and targeting prospects that can return for multiple tournaments. For the protected list, franchises can go as young as 2024 eligibles, which is the current UFFS scouting cutoff — always three years out from the NHL draft. That class is born in 2006, while the WJC is primarily a 19-year-old tournament, thus starring 2002-born prospects that were drafted last year. So that offers a five-year range of eligibility for UFWJ franchises and they can select their protected list players in any of the 30 rounds, adding further intrigue in terms of draft strategies.
With this initial mock draft, UFFS director of hockey scouting Larry Fisher went 11 rounds deep to showcase the talent available for top-six forwards, top-four defenders and starting goaltenders. The first six rounds were focused on starting lineups — three forwards, two defenders and one goaltender — but UFWJ franchises won’t have to follow that script for the Inaugural Draft in selecting a total of 14 forwards, 8 defenders and 3 goaltenders for this year’s tournament, plus 5 prospects of any position for their protected list. Those are the necessary totals but franchises can fill out their rosters in any fashion — they could take all their forwards before taking any defenders, if they so desired. And their protected list could be comprised strictly of forwards without any defenders or goaltenders.
Regardless of roster construction, the later rounds will make a world of difference — drafting the right depth players, including the revelations and breakout sensations, will determine the medal contenders. Every franchise will feature a quality core — as evidenced by this mock — but those hidden gems and unsung heroes could put a franchise over the top and onto the podium. This league ensures every player competing in the WJC will have value, so if a fourth-liner from Austria happens to score or Switzerland’s third-string goalie somehow posts a shutout, one of the UFWJ franchises will be celebrating!
Now that the picture has been painted, let’s proceed with the fun of a fresh canvas for every franchise in this 11-round UFWJ Mock Draft — selecting 110 of the 300 players that will be picked in the Inaugural Draft before recapping the results for the UFWJ franchises as well as the WJC countries.
Franchise Results By Draft Order
Franchise 1
Matvei Michkov – F, Russia
Owen Power – D, Canada
Kent Johnson – F, Canada
Kaiden Guhle – D, Canada
Juraj Slafkovsky – F, Slovakia
Leevi Merilainen – G, Finland
Martin Chromiak – F, Slovakia
Jan Mysak – F, Czech Republic
Adam Fantilli – F, Canada
Eemil Viro – D, Finland
Wyatt Kaiser – D, USA
Franchise 2
Shane Wright – F, Canada
Connor Bedard – F, Canada
Mason McTavish – F, Canada
Shakir Mukhamadullin – D, Russia
Daniil Chayka – D, Russia
Nick Malik – G, Czech Republic
Lukas Reichel – F, Germany
Stanislav Svozil – D, Czech Republic
Nikita Chibrikov – F, Russia
Pavel Novak – F, Czech Republic
Vladimir Grudinin – D, Russia
Franchise 3
Sebastian Cossa – G, Canada
Dylan Guenther – F, Canada
Jake Neighbours – F, Canada
Topi Niemela – D, Finland
Jacob Perreault – F, Canada
Ryan O’Rourke – D, Canada
Zayde Wisdom – F, Canada
Ridly Greig – F, Canada
Ozzy Wiesblatt – F, Canada
Joni Jurmo – D, Finland
Daemon Hunt – D, Canada
Franchise 4
Yaroslav Askarov – G, Russia
Simon Edvinsson – D, Sweden
Marat Khusnutdinov – F, Russia
Alexander Pashin – F, Russia
Isak Rosen – F, Sweden
Kirill Kirsanov – D, Russia
Oskar Olausson – F, Sweden
Daniil Gushchin – F, Russia
Daniel Ljungman – F, Sweden
Ruben Rafkin – D, Finland
Elias Salomonsson – D, Sweden
Franchise 5
Cole Perfetti – F, Canada
Hendrix Lapierre – F, Canada
Drew Commesso – G, USA
Matt Coronato – F, USA
Lukas Cormier – D, Canada
Yan Kuznetsov – D, Russia
Samu Tuomaala – F, Finland
Logan Cooley – F, USA
Kasper Simontaival – F, Finland
Olen Zellweger – D, Canada
Seamus Casey – D, USA
Franchise 6
Alexander Holtz – F, Sweden
Quinton Byfield – F, Canada
Brandt Clarke – D, Canada
Helge Grans – D, Sweden
Sasha Pastujov – F, USA
Jan Bednar – G, Czech Republic
William Wallinder – D, Sweden
Matthew Knies – F, USA
Sean Behrens – D, USA
Theodor Niederbach – F, Sweden
Daniel Torgersson – F, Sweden
Franchise 7
William Eklund – F, Sweden
Seth Jarvis – F, Canada
Simon Nemec – D, Slovakia
Simon Latkoczy – G, Slovakia
Joakim Kemell – F, Finland
David Jiricek – D, Czech Republic
Jonathan Lekkerimaki – F, Sweden
Fabian Lysell – F, Sweden
Dalibor Dvorsky – F, Slovakia
Michael Krutil – D, Czech Republic
Dmitri Kostenko – D, Russia
Franchise 8
Jake Sanderson – D, USA
Joel Blomqvist – G, Finland
Ivan Miroshnichenko – F, Russia
Tyson Foerster – F, Canada
Brad Lambert – F, Finland
Samuel Knazko – D, Slovakia
Matthew Savoie – F, Canada
Carter Savoie – F, Canada
Carson Lambos – D, Canada
Michael Benning – D, Canada
Filip Mesar – F, Slovakia
Franchise 9
Jesper Wallstedt – G, Sweden
Aatu Raty – F, Finland
Roni Hirvonen – F, Finland
Aron Kiviharju – D, Finland
Roby Jarventie – F, Finland
Emil Andrae – D, Sweden
Artyom Grushnikov – D, Russia
Fyodor Svechkov – F, Russia
Vasily Ponomarev – F, Russia
Kasper Puutio – D, Finland
Samu Salminen – F, Finland
Franchise 10
Matty Beniers – F, USA
Luke Hughes – D, USA
Thomas Bordeleau – F, USA
Brock Faber – D, USA
J.J. Peterka – F, Germany
Calle Clang – G, Sweden
Chaz Lucius – F, USA
Florian Elias – F, Germany
Mackie Samoskevich – F, USA
Luca Munzenberger – D, Germany
Scott Morrow – D, USA
Franchise Rosters By Position
Franchise 1
Matvei Michkov – F, Russia
Kent Johnson – F, Canada
Juraj Slafkovsky – F, Slovakia
Martin Chromiak – F, Slovakia
Jan Mysak – F, Czech Republic
Adam Fantilli – F, Canada
Owen Power – D, Canada
Kaiden Guhle – D, Canada
Eemil Viro – D, Finland
Wyatt Kaiser – D, USA
Leevi Merilainen – G, Finland
Franchise 2
Shane Wright – F, Canada
Connor Bedard – F, Canada
Mason McTavish – F, Canada
Lukas Reichel – F, Germany
Nikita Chibrikov – F, Russia
Pavel Novak – F, Czech Republic
Shakir Mukhamadullin – D, Russia
Daniil Chayka – D, Russia
Stanislav Svozil – D, Czech Republic
Vladimir Grudinin – D, Russia
Nick Malik – G, Czech Republic
Franchise 3
Dylan Guenther – F, Canada
Jake Neighbours – F, Canada
Jacob Perreault – F, Canada
Zayde Wisdom – F, Canada
Ridly Greig – F, Canada
Ozzy Wiesblatt – F, Canada
Topi Niemela – D, Finland
Ryan O’Rourke – D, Canada
Joni Jurmo – D, Finland
Daemon Hunt – D, Canada
Sebastian Cossa – G, Canada
Franchise 4
Marat Khusnutdinov – F, Russia
Alexander Pashin – F, Russia
Isak Rosen – F, Sweden
Oskar Olausson – F, Sweden
Daniil Gushchin – F, Russia
Daniel Ljungman – F, Sweden
Simon Edvinsson – D, Sweden
Kirill Kirsanov – D, Russia
Ruben Rafkin – D, Finland
Elias Salomonsson – D, Sweden
Yaroslav Askarov – G, Russia
Franchise 5
Cole Perfetti – F, Canada
Hendrix Lapierre – F, Canada
Matt Coronato – F, USA
Samu Tuomaala – F, Finland
Logan Cooley – F, USA
Kasper Simontaival – F, Finland
Lukas Cormier – D, Canada
Yan Kuznetsov – D, Russia
Olen Zellweger – D, Canada
Seamus Casey – D, USA
Drew Commesso – G, USA
Franchise 6
Alexander Holtz – F, Sweden
Quinton Byfield – F, Canada
Sasha Pastujov – F, USA
Matthew Knies – F, USA
Theodor Niederbach – F, Sweden
Daniel Torgersson – F, Sweden
Brandt Clarke – D, Canada
Helge Grans – D, Sweden
William Wallinder – D, Sweden
Sean Behrens – D, USA
Jan Bednar – G, Czech Republic
Franchise 7
William Eklund – F, Sweden
Seth Jarvis – F, Canada
Joakim Kemell – F, Finland
Jonathan Lekkerimaki – F, Sweden
Fabian Lysell – F, Sweden
Dalibor Dvorsky – F, Slovakia
Simon Nemec – D, Slovakia
David Jiricek – D, Czech Republic
Michael Krutil – D, Czech Republic
Dmitri Kostenko – D, Russia
Simon Latkoczy – G, Slovakia
Franchise 8
Ivan Miroshnichenko – F, Russia
Tyson Foerster – F, Canada
Brad Lambert – F, Finland
Matthew Savoie – F, Canada
Carter Savoie – F, Canada
Filip Mesar – F, Slovakia
Jake Sanderson – D, USA
Samuel Knazko – D, Slovakia
Carson Lambos – D, Canada
Michael Benning – D, Canada
Joel Blomqvist – G, Finland
Franchise 9
Aatu Raty – F, Finland
Roni Hirvonen – F, Finland
Roby Jarventie – F, Finland
Fyodor Svechkov – F, Russia
Vasily Ponomarev – F, Russia
Samu Salminen – F, Finland
Aron Kiviharju – D, Finland
Emil Andrae – D, Sweden
Artyom Grushnikov – D, Russia
Kasper Puutio – D, Finland
Jesper Wallstedt – G, Sweden
Franchise 10
Matty Beniers – F, USA
Thomas Bordeleau – F, USA
J.J. Peterka – F, Germany
Chaz Lucius – F, USA
Florian Elias – F, Germany
Mackie Samoskevich – F, USA
Luke Hughes – D, USA
Brock Faber – D, USA
Luca Munzenberger – D, Germany
Scott Morrow – D, USA
Calle Clang – G, Sweden
Franchise Depth Charts
